Thermador has a new dishwasher, the Star Sapphire dishwasher, with some unique features. In many ways, it revolutionizes how you will use a dishwasher, especially if you are often hosting friends and family.

In this article, you will learn about the Thermador Star Sapphire dishwasher,it's new features including its incredible speed and drying capabilities, as well as its similar features to their Radiance Collection. Lastly, we will compare it to a similarly priced dishwasher from Miele, its only true competitor.

First, let’s take a look at Thermador's new Radiance Collection starting with their brand new Star Sapphire dishwasher.

At a Glance

New Radiance Collection by Thermador

Along with the new Star Sapphire dishwasher, Thermador has introduced their Radiance Collection featuring three other dishwashers all named after diamonds. The other three are the Emerald, the Topaz, and the Sapphire dishwasher. (I wonder if they had Miele's Diamond dishwasher in mind during the design process

In the past, Thermador was a Bosch dishwasher. Ironically, most of the Thermador dishwashers were made in Bosch’s European factories. Now, Thermador's dishwashers are made in North Carolina.

At 20 minutes for the main wash, the Star Sapphire is the fastest non-commercial dishwasher on the market by far. However, unlike a commercial dishwasher using 240 volts and 50 amps to heat the water instantaneously, the Thermador heater will take 20 minutes to heat the water to 151 degrees and then you can use the 20-minute cycle.

So you would turn it on before dinner and have it ready by the time you clear the dishes. If you are having a party, you can run 5 loads with the hot water in reserve at 20 minutes per cycle.

StarDry

The drying is incredibly unique. It uses regular condensation drying but adds the mineral Zeolite to speed the process.

Zeolite is a naturally occurring mineral found in volcanic ash.

If you Google Zeolite, it has been credited as a supplement to release toxins from your body like Mercury, Arsenic, and heavy metals. The Russians used Zeolite at Chernobyl to remove radiation.

It also has been used for water purification through osmosis. It's thermal and adds heat as well as absorbs more moisture for a more efficient drying process.

Thermador has packed a lifetime supply of Zeolite, so you never have to worry about it running out.

All 4 of the new Thermador dishwashers have these similar features:

Thermador HomeConnect:Wi-Fi enabled, so you can turn on the dishwasher remotely as well as see the cycle time remaining.

Thermador HomeConnect

3rd rack:You can place your silverware on the top rack, so you will have more room for the dishes below.

Thermador 3rd Rack

Three Styles:You have a choice of Euro or professional handles. You can also panelize every series.

Panel

$1,399 Rebate:You have a $1,399 rebate when buying a pro range or qualifying Thermador cooking products.

PowerBoost:This cycle adds temperature and water pressure on the bottom rack to clean extremely soiled dishes.

Thermador Star Sapphire vs. Miele Diamond Dishwashers

At $2,799, Miele is the only competitor in that price range of the new Thermador Star Sapphire dishwasher.

Miele's Diamond dishwasher dries by allowing air into the sides of the dishwasher. The hot steamy air is attracted to the cooler sides and is dissipated. The door on the Miele pops open at the end of the cycle to release some of that moist air as well.

For speed, Thermador is the fastest with their 20-minute wash cycle. Miele uses way more time than the Thermador. The normal cycle is over 2 hours with a short cycle of.

The racking on the Miele is the best as the racks are adjustable and can be removed to fit any kind of utensil or plate. Thermador is close, but Miele is still more flexible.

In terms of reliability, Miele is also the best premium dishwasher. Oddly enough, the German-made Thermador dishwashers faired worse than the Bosch dishwashers made in the U.S.

Still, Miele would be the most reliable with Bosch being number 2 combining all their brands.

So, Should You Buy the Thermador Star Sapphire Dishwasher?

I have a fairly quiet dishwasher with a 2-hour main wash cycle. The dishwasher is turned on before bedtime. However, if you entertain, that 20-minute cycle on the Thermador Star Sapphire is a plus. We will test the Zeolite drying claims shortly. Mieledoes dry with a more basic design.

In terms of value, the Sapphire is a great idea, but $2,799 is not a price most people are not willing to pay for a dishwasher, especially with many less costly, viable options in Bosch or KitchenAid.

However, if you buy the Thermador professional (pro) range, you do receive a $1,399 credit towards a new dishwasher, then the Sapphire becomes more affordable and worthwhile at $1,000 (without the Speed cycle) or $1399 with that cycle.

At that price, it is only $300 more than a comparable Bosch with far more features like Wi-Fi, PowerBoost, Star Speed, and StarDry.

It also becomes over $1,000 less than a Miele Diamond. With the discount, Thermador becomes almost a great value. At $2,799, it is a much tougher buy.

Additional Resources

Want to learn more about Bosch, Miele, KitchenAid, and other dishwashers? Download the YaleDishwasher Buying Guidewith features, specs, and inside buying tips to all the major brands. Over 355,000 people have downloaded a Yale Guide.

WHY SHOULD YOU TRUST US?

A few review sites have placed this at the bottom of their articles. So here is our take: Our mission is to find reliable products for you to buy. Other review sites may say this as well.

However, we don’t love every product. Quite frankly, it costs us way too much money in repair costs to support less reliable brands.

In fact, we sell fewer brands than most appliance stores. Here is why:

We feel it is our responsibility to repair your appliances after you buy them.

We now have 30 service technicians, each averaging 8-10 calls a day Monday through Friday, plus another 110 on Saturday. That's over 30,000 service calls logged in one year.

The labor rates of fixing an appliance do not come close to the true cost in any product’s warranty period.

That is why no major retailer has a service department. It costs too much labor, money and time.

Our Blog is a bit different than most others you will read. We cannot write glowing reviews of unreliable products.

Hopefully, the bloggers and organizations who write such glowing product reviews for every brand consider servicing these products first. Only then they will understand the consequences of their marketing.

Steve Sheinkopf

My goal has always been simple: I want Yale to be the best retail experience anywhere. I have tried to create a compelling environment for customers and employees alike.

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